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book reviews |
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Multi-volume, multi-genre author, Eileen Omosa introduces us to the first volume of her new sweet romance series, “An African Woman’s Journey”, “Ignited by Education”: She’s the most educated girl in the village, but her parents are worried she read the wrong books. Will they ever find a common understanding? By sheer luck, Sophia Mariko has completed university education through grants for students from poor families. She’s focused on building her career and to pay fees for her siblings when her father summons her to the village to get married. Sophia could resist and stay in the city, but her job is insecure. Richie floods her work desk with red roses and proposes to marry her. She turns down his overtures but becomes desperate on learning he’s the son of her employer. Can Sophia shun marriage, yet her upbringing prepared her for the role of a wife and mother? Or will she abandon her job and drop back into the poverty she has worked so hard to overcome?  I enjoyed this sweet romance. To be honest, I had to look up what this genre included; I admit romance is not my first choice for reading pleasure. The truth is, this story is a lot of fun. Sophia is a woman with a plan and she is determined to complete her plan, I admire her fortitude. There are many elements that are necessary to bring a story to life, Eileen weaves this tapestry quite well. The plot and sub-plots were interesting, scene setting was quite good, and the dialog was downright funny at times! I laughed out loud more than once! I savored the local flavor of Africa Eileen wove into the story, she shared what a lot of the Kiswahili language terms meant. Kiswahili is spoken by nearly 100 million people in Africa. Learning about food and cultural customs enhances a story for me a great deal. The action was played out quite well also, without being too exhaustive and bogging the story down. All things considered; this story gave me several hours of reading pleasure. I award 5 stars to “The Girl Who Left the Village”! I am happy to share that volume two of the series is available at this time: “The Secret He Never Told Her”.  You can buy this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Ignited-by-Education-African-Womans-Journey You can follow Eileen Omosa: https://twitter.com/iGrowideas https://www.eileenomosa.com https://www.facebook.com/EileenOmosaAuthor Tags: multicultural, hope, contemporary women’s fiction, sweet romance, international business, college, international travel, Italy, Kenya Copyright © 2018 Mark L. Schultz except for the author’s introduction
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Multi-volume author, Susan Sage, introduces us to her new book, a fictional memoir, A Mentor and Her Muse: Under the guise of mentor and muse, a frustrated writer and her ambitious teenage protégé take an illicit summer road trip fraught with racial and sexual tension. This is a compelling psychological novel about social norms, artistic ambition, and obsession. Maggie Barnett works in the media center of a school in Flint, Michigan where she meets Taezha Riverton, an aspiring teenage writer. After discovering that Maggie is also a writer, Taezha turns to her as both mentor and friend. Alone and childless, it's not enough for Maggie to take Tae to restaurants and poetry slams. Although Tae’s mother has nothing against Maggie, she is less than thrilled when Maggie proposes to take her daughter on a summer road trip. Permission is never explicitly granted, but shortly after school is out for the summer, Maggie and Tae head for the Southeast.  I was a little wary of this book when I first got it. A book about writers, on the surface, seemed like it could wind up being self-serving. I was pleasantly surprised as I was drawn into the well-written story about an older woman dealing with a growing number of crises trying to mentor a young inner-city teenager with considerable writing talent. Using a mix of formats, including journaling, and inner dialog, the cross-country trip turns into a series of discoveries, internal and external, for both writers. There is a mix of POVs also, that keeps things fresh. While the action is not elaborate it is well played, the scenes are skillfully set and amply described. The characters are developed quite nicely also. This book has a lot to offer. I really enjoyed this book on more than one level. It is an excellent story. I give A Mentor and Her Muse a score of 4.8 stars!  You can buy this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Mentor-Her-Muse-Susan-Sage-ebook https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35320495-a-mentor-and-her-muse http://www.open-bks.com/library/moderns/a-mentor-and-her-muse You can follow Susan Sage: http://twitter.com/SusanSage https://www.susansage1.com https://facebook.com/Susan-SageAuthor I have reviewed another book by the author here: www.wordrefiner.com/book-reviews/dancing-in-the-ring Tags: women’s fiction, literary fiction, teaching, traveling, journey, road trip Copyright © 2018 Mark L Schultz except for the author's introduction Debut author, Chris Knoblaugh introduces us to her book: Tribute: The Cleaners Series: Book 1: When twelve-year-old Miguel’s gang member Papa makes promises to Santa Muerte, someone in Miguel’s family loses a soul. The last time, it was Miguel’s gentle aunt. This time, the target is Miguel’s brother, Juan. Santa Muerte, the skeletal patron saint of drug traffickers and murderers, always claims her fee. The trouble is Miguel won’t let Juan’s spirit go. The resulting paranormal possession attracts demons, doppelgangers, and an ancient soul slayer from the depths of Hell — all of whom must be vanquished if Miguel is to live. Even with help, Miguel’s refusal to release Juan threatens the lives of those Miguel loves most. Miguel must choose to release his brother or lose yet another loved one, for the bargain was made with Santa Muerte and the price must be paid.  This middle-grade ghost story certainly surprised me. I was expecting Casper the friendly ghost, I got a streetwise teen-ager in a rough part of San Jose, California. This is more than a ghost story, it's a peek into the world of a 12-year-old Hispanic boy. I thoroughly enjoyed this story about growing up on mean streets, dealing with sofa-surfing, discarded needles, and homeless people, some who might be angels in disguise, sometimes. I particularly relished the first person POV of Miguel, a 12-year-old boy trying to survive being thrust into the spirit world, when his older brother, Juan, is murdered. The internal chaos is magnificent, Miguel’s efforts to find some stability are wonderfully described. His courage in trying to bring his brother peace is inspiring. Scene setting, action, dialog, and secondary characters all come to life in an exquisite way under Chris’s pen. I love this story and award 4.8 stars. I am excited to tell you the author has indicated she is working on a new story set over 200 years in the past, with a working title, "Atonement". I am looking forward to that very much.  You can buy this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Tribute-Cleaners-Book-Chris-Knoblaugh-ebook https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39855132-tribute https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tribute-ms-chris-j-knoblaugh You can follow the author: https://twitter.com/ChrisKnoblaugh https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17944982.Chris_Knoblaugh https://dancingwithwordstutoring.blogspot.com/ https://www.facebook.com/CKnoblaugh http://mrsknoblaugh.weebly.com/ tags: MG, YA, middle grade, young adult, spiritual, Christian, Catholic, Church, spirits, fiction Copyright © 2018 Mark L Schultz except for the author's introduction Award-winning children’s author, Michelle Path, introduces us to Corallai: When Andi is engulfed by a wave, she finds herself transported to an underwater world called Corallai. There she meets Aquanna, a creature who is part fish and part human. Aquanna tells Andi that it is her destiny to help preserve the oceans and all the life within. Andi learns all about the work the various inhabitants do to ensure the survival of the ocean’s ecosystem, and explores this new, spectacular world.  This is a very cute book! I love the illustrations, with lots of color and clearly drawn, the story is visually expressed in a pleasing way. Ocean health is a primary concern in this book, and Michelle handles it very carefully for children. Andi visits the underwater kingdom and gets a solid education that sets the direction for her life. Andi learns about the struggles various underwater plants and animals have coping with environmental pollution, over-fishing by humans, and other assorted ills. I greatly appreciate the way Michelle writes her stories to stimulate conversation between adults and children. I award 5 stars to Corallai! This is the second book about ocean health for children by Michelle. The first is “Rory Aqua Adventure Man”, I reviewed it here.  You can buy this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Corallai-Michelle-Path-ebook https://www.amazon.co.uk/Corallai-Michelle-Path-ebook https://www.goodreads.com/corallai You can follow Michelle Path: Twitter: @mimilovesu http://michellepath.com.au/ https://www.facebook.com/Michelle-Path https://www.goodreads.com/author/Michelle_Path Kid-lit, children's literature, environment, stewardship, Australia Copyright © 2018 Mark L Schultz except for the author's introduction |
Who am I?An avid reader, typobuster, and the Hyper-Speller. I am a husband, father, and grandfather. Archives
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